GMAT Preparation Guide ... A Detailed Schedule for Two Months....PART I Hey there!! Nice to be blogging after so long!

Thanks a lot for all the nice words through comments/emails/scraps. Makes me happy!

So the reason I am writing yet another post is that many of you guys thought that a step-by-step preparation chart would be of great help! So here is my humble attempt at it.

There are certain things I would like to assume here: You have atleast 2 months before actually taking the GMAT. (I don't have to say that more is better) You are willing to spend atleast 2.5 hrs daily. On weekends you have 6 hrs to devote. You have all the resources. (books and tests) You have a good study table, good lighting and peaceful place. You want to crack it big time! Books you'll need : OG 11/10 Kaplan Basic guide/Princeton Basic guide Kaplan Verbal Workbook Manhattan SC Maths Workbook : Kaplan/Manhattan/Princeton/OG Kaplan 800 Additionally you can have Verbal by OG/Princeton Test CDs from GMAT, Kaplan, Princeton (and any other you can lay your hands on) OK!! So lets start!

============== WEEK ONE ================

Day 1 (Preferably on a weekend): 1. Arrange all the books on your table. Get a bundle of blank sheets for all the rough work. Get one diary/journal to keep a daily log of your scores. And use your notebook (thin) for taking down all the notes while you are learning. Get a pen (not a pencil), preferably black ink, and a sketch pen to make charts. Also get a tiny bundle of post-its and a white and a black chart paper.

2. Read all you can about the GMAT exam on the official website and the introduction part of any of the GMAT guide (Kaplan or Princeton). Educate yourself about the CAT methodology of the test. Look at the different types of questions that come on the GMAT. See how each section looks like. Familiarise yourself!!

3. Finally take a diagnostic and feel good even if you didn't do well. Take a break and think how was it! Go over the analysis section and see what was the toughest/easiest section.

Day 2 : Take up the Kaplan Basic guide and finish off the CR section. (Theory, examples and exercise + analysis). Do the rough work on the blank sheets and write down the answers in the diary/journal with a proper date, heading, book's name + Section name. Finally write down the score and the accuracy percentage.

Analyse each answer with utmost care and keep jotting down any stuff which you have learnt (there has to plenty of them). Make a habit of taking down notes. On the post-its write down all the silly mistakes you did and stick them on the black chart paper which you should stick to the wall infront of you.

Day 3 : Follow the same thing for SC.

Day 4 : Ditto for Problem solving.

Day 5 : Ditto for DS.

Day 6 : RC...same routine.

Day 7 : Finish off the AWA section and take the paper based test at the end of the book. Analyze all the answers. Go through the explanations. Make notes. Write down the silly mistakes on the post-its. Also write down your experiences after you took your first test. Look back at your week. Feel good that you finished one book completely and one test.

SUMMARY:

So this week was a glimpse of what your weeks should look like...productive! Many people would feel that its a bit tough to follow this kind of schedule. But hey! Who said it was going to be easy. I don't believe in insincerity, laziness and doing things without passion. I believe that GMAT is the first step in your enedeavour. Its better to crack it on the first go rather than crying later after you have screwed it up. If you can't find time, do one thing: write down all the things you do in a day, for a week. Spot items which you can sacifice, like going to a movie, chatting, watching TV or going out just like that. I am sure you can take out 2-3 hrs daily for this. If you feel you still don't have time, you can schedule it for three months and stretch the schedule by 1.5 times. But be honest to yourself. Good luck!

============== WEEK TWO ================

From now onwards, your every session should be timed. This week we'll attack SC and PS. I would suggest you to have Kaplan Verbal Workout, Manhattan SC and OG.

Daily log keeping is mandatory. All the rough work on the sheets. Take notes after each exercise while analysing or reading the theory section. Make post-its for the annoyances.

Day 8 : Go through chapters on 3 C's, Subject Verb Agreement, Tense, Mood & Voice (1, 2 and 3) from Manhattan. Do the exercise.

Day 9 : Go through chapters on Pronouns and Modifiers from Manhattan (4 & 5). Finish chapter 2 (SC) from Verbal workout. Do the practice questions.

Day 10 : Finish Parallelism from Manhattan (6). Do practice set 1 & 2 of SC from Verbal Workout.

Day 11 : Open the Maths section from the Workbook you have. Finish the theory part and go through the formulae. Do the practice exercise. Finish the chapter on Comparisons and Idioms from Manhattan. Do the practice set 3 from verbal workout.

Day 12 : Do the practice sets for PS from whichever book you are following. Finish off Manhattan. Revise all the theory. Go thorough your notes. Go through any other SC material you have.

Day 13 :

Take out your white chart. Make a section for SC on it. Count the number of sums in your OG for SC. Divide it by 50 and make as many blocks besides SC. I followed OG 10 (which I recommend). There would be 6-7 blocks. Paste it on your wall.

Take out the OG. Do the first 50 questions at a stretch. (1:30 hrs) Against each answer option you write, you should write the keyword for it. And you should check how many are you able to spot correctly. Analyze the answers, go through explanations, make a note of errors/mistakes you did...basically try to minimise wrongs for your next session. If you have any doubt in any of the explanation, go back to Manhattan to clarify it as much as possible.

Day 14 : Do the next 50 questions SC from OG. (1:30 hrs) Do 50 questions from PS from OG as well. (1:30 hrs) Analyze. Learn formulae, theory...and revise everything (3 hrs)

SUMMARY :

So you have finished Mahattan SC. Great! You have also crossed out two blocks for SC on the white sheet. And one block for PS.

============== WEEK THREE ================

This week we'll target CR and finish off the remaining questions for PS from OG and Workbook.

You will have 6 blocks for CR OG. 35 questions each. So we'll target finshing these six blocks, each a day. And I recommend doing 500 questions for PS and DS each. So this week we'll finish 5 blocks (=250 questions) for PS. Excited!! Lets start!

Day 15: Take out Verbal Workbook and go through the theory and practice exercise. Thats it for today. Rest of the stuff (analysis, log keeping) will not be told again and again. That should become a habit. Every session has to be well documented.

Day 16: Finish the practice set 1. Then 1 block from OG for CR.

Day 17: Finish 1 block from OG CR and PS.

Day 18: 1 block from CR OG and practice set 2 from Verbal workbook.

Day 19 : 1 block CR OG and PS.

Day 20 : 1 block CR OG and practice set 3. 1 block of PS.

Day 21 : 1 block of CR OG and 2 block PS

SUMMARY :

You should be quite comfortable with CR, SC and PS by now. If you are able to match up with this schedule, you are doing great. Three good weeks. We'll target RC and DS in the next week. So one

month would be over. And you would have finished Manhattan, Verbal Workbook, Maths Workbook and OG.!! Next month it'll be redoing the OG the smarter way, Kaplan 800 (the next step), making notes, and taking lots tests!!

============== WEEK FOUR ================

This week we'll target RC (from OG and Workbook) and DS (from OG and Workbook).

You will have 6 blocks for RC OG. 35 questions each. So we'll target finshing these six blocks, each a day.

Day 22: Take out Verbal Workbook and go through the theory and practice exercise for Reading Comprehension. Thats it for today. Rest of the stuff (analysis, log keeping). Document your session.

Day 23: Finish the practice set 1. Then 1 block from OG for RC.

Day 24: Finish 1 block from OG CR and

Day 25: 1 block from CR OG and practice set 2 from Verbal workbook.

Day 26 : 1 block RC OG and DS.

Day 27 : 1 block RC OG and practice set 3. 1 block of DS.

Day 28 : 1 block of RC OG and 2 block DS

SUMMARY :

Let's look Back at the last month :-) We have finished OG completely. Your Verbal Accuracy at this stage is expected to be above 80% assuming you have done all the analysis and log keeping religiously. The next month is going to be rigorous. This month we'll target doing Kaplan 800, Redoing the OG and taking as many tests as possible. So get ready!! It's going to be fun.

And one more thing...I am sure some of you will be able to achieve the targets set in this schedule and the rest of the junta can just sit back and complain that it is a tough schedule and come up with excuses as to why it didn't work out for them.

All the best...keep checking out the site for updates on this post. You can subscribe. So here we meet again!!! So you have completed one month of prepping and now you are ready for the next step!!! This is gonna be super awesome...you know why?? Simply because this month we will go to the next level of serious prepping (not that you can afford not to be serious in the first month :-D ). This month we will target Kaplan 800, redo the OG and take as many tests as possible. And then you can happily go and crack the GMAT !

A small summary will help at this point of time. Last two weeks...test marathon (including sectional tests). First two weeks will be devoted to finish the kaplan 800, redo the Tough+Medium OG questions and revise your notes.

============== WEEK FIVE ================

Day 29 : Arrange all the new books on your table. Pick up Kaplan 800. Start RC section. And finish it from start to end. Make notes, grids and all the jazz I have mentioned earlier. Make Flashcards for RC tricks and tips and stick it!

Day 30 : Ditto for PS.

Day 31 : Ditto for SC.

Day 32 : Ditto for CR. But but but...also take out the AWA document I have provided. And go through it.

Day 33 : Today also we will do CR and AWA. MAke notes from the AWA document and learn them by heart. Write two sets of AWA essays, i.e. 4 essays (2 argument and 2 issue)

Day 34 : Start DS. And finish it from start to end. Make notes, grids and all the jazz I have mentioned earlier. Make Flashcards for DS and tips and stick it!

Day 35 : Revise everything. Do the questions again which you missed the first time. Or if you have any confusion, just get it clarified.

SUMMARY :

So this week you finished the toughest book in stores for GMAT. Feel good and satisfied. Go through all the new things you learnt and revise your notes. Analyse whats going good/bad with your prep. How much more you need to put in. Things like that. ATB.

============== WEEK SIX ================

Day 36 : Take out your OG grid and OG. Make a list (or get out the print out) of all the questions you did wrong on the first go (Last month when you did the OG) for all the sections.

Then take the SC section and side-by-side open the SC section of the Kaplan 800 for reference. Then solve the questions from that list. And hey here I am assuming you will at max get 100 questions wrong and so you should be able to do it in one day. If your work pressure is too much, then do something about it. No one can help you with that except yourself!

Day 37 : Do the same thing for the CR section.

Day 38 : Do the same thing for the RC section.

Day 39 : Do the same thing for the PS section.

Day 40 : Do the same thing for the DS section.

Day 41 : Write 3 sets of essays for AWA section. Take help from the AWA doc.

Day 42 :Do whatever you want to. Take a chill pill. Sit down on a chair facing the window and in your mind go through all the SC rules in your mind. Think about the fallacies. Revise the formulae in your mind. Basically make a mental map of all the stuff you have gone through.

SUMMARY :

So this week you revised and learnt from all your mistakes and gotten ready for the ultimate two weeks before the actual GMAT.

============== WEEK SEVEN ================

Day 43 : Get your laptop/machine...preferably with a mouse. Collect your test materials...CDs and sit down with all your concentration. Its going to be long and better be prepared for it. And simply start. One test a day!

Day 44 : --do--

Day 45 : --do--

Day 46 : --do--

Day 47 : --do--

Day 48 : --do--

Day 49 :--do--

SUMMARY : So basically you take a test each day and analyze it properly. Track your mistakes...not repeat them. Revise your formulae sheet.

============== WEEK EIGHT ================

Same as last week. After 14 tests just chill and go take the test.... I would recommend you to take the tests in the proper order. See my post on test strategies.

What we did: 1. Plan ----------------------------------------------Mukul's blog (Outbeat the GMAT) has an insanely helpful step-by-step plan. I encourage everyone with high GMAT ambitions to follow a similar plan Part 1 Part 2

2. Environment and resources ----------------------------------------------a) We made sure we had a good table to sit upon, and two chairs, with papers and pens to do the rough work b) That we were free of distractions, TV time was reduced (we never watched too much tv anyways) c) Managed external dependencies - I was particular in finishing my work by 5pm, so that I could get home on time

3. Books ----------------------------------------------a) We bought only the OG and Kaplan (which totals to 5 full length practice tests) b) We borrowed books from the nearby library (we were blessed with a good one) for the remaining mentioned in plan above c) Generally, -- Kaplan is easier than the real test, but is a good starting point -- Manhattan GMAT is tougher than the real test, but really helps us up our standards -- OG and the official (free) practice test is the best approximation of the real test d) I found all the practice tests that I could lay my hands on, from the Internet.

4. Hardwork ----------------------------------------------a) We followed this plan to the T b) I made an excel template for recording our practice questions, and made paper copies of it. This also has a column to make remarks while review (repeat mistakes, etc). c) We had it in google calendar, and I had it in my phone and computer, so I was constantly reminded about what's going to come that evening. d) One principle I want to highlight is that in addition to reviewing the failed cases, you better review the ones that you got right, as well. This is to reinforce what went right. Occasionally I have uncovered wrong assumptions that got me to the right answer, this helped clear the basics. e) Perfect Practice makes Perfect f) It's very important to get an even (Verbal vs Quant) score. If you are doing good at one and need improvement in the other, give extra attention to the weakness. g) After carefully planning activities for 2 months, we booked the exam on a Saturday. That solidified our commitment. No looking back now!

h) One really needs to build his stamina, being seated for 4 hours continuously in one place and working on math, reading long winded passages trying to find logic (BTW, we enjoyed reading most of the passages).

5. Passion for good score ----------------------------------------------We kept the flame up, encouraging and challenging each other. A like-minded sparring partner is a great help, as in any other exercise.

We wrote GMAT for the first round in 2010 Jan. Both of us were crestfallen. I was at 680 and she was at 640. We were better than that! We didnt speak much on our way back from Prometric, and decided we are going to write again.

It took couple of days to get out of the wound-licking mindset. Then we went back at it, and followed the last month section of the above plan. After a week, I made a booking for our exam in Feb 2010.

We did practice test after practice test, even when it was mind-numbing. This is when we concentrated on Manhattan GMAT papers.

Finally test day came, and we were pretty calm. I guess the practice helped. This time we were pleasantly surprised. I was at 750, and my wife at 710. Now that's more like it!

We celebrated quietly with a home-cooked dinner.